Batsuit

The Batsuit of the original Earth-Two Batman was a simple design with very few special enhancements. The first costume that Bruce wore consisted of a two-piece grey body suit with a bat-shaped emblem sewn into the chest region. The cowl was black in color and covered Bruc

Contents

History

Golden Age

The Batsuit of the original Earth-Two Batman was a simple design with very few special enhancements. The first costume that Bruce wore consisted of a two-piece grey body suit with a bat-shaped emblem sewn into the chest region. The cowl was black in color and covered Bruce's head and half of his face, leaving only his mouth and chin exposed. It was equipped with long pointed ear pieces that served no apparant function other than cosmetic aesthetics. The cowl was attached to a black scalloped cape that hung down below Batman's knees. Originally, Batman wore a pair of short purple gloves, but soon replaced these with longer black gloves with three pointed accouterments lining each of his forearms. [1] Initially, Batman wore a standard belt with a round buckle.

He soon replaced it with a square belt buckle, and gradually upgraded it with small compartments that enabled him to carry various crime-fighting tools. More than simply a means of holding up his pants, this became commonly known as his Utility Belt. [2] Batman's costume design went through one final evolution. He replaced the black cape and cowl in favor of a blue one which included smaller ear pieces. This was the costume that he wore throughout the remainder of his career.

Modern

While in his study thinking over a method on how to be a more effective crime fighter and a solution on the means of fighting injustice, Bruce Wayne saw a bat crash through his window and perch on the bust of his father picture. Realizing that the only way to fight the criminals, the crime and the evil of this world was to adopt a symbol Bruce adopts the persona of his greatest fear - a bat - in order to conceal his identity and to strike fear into his adversaries. Subsequent origin tales have had Bruce terrified by bats as a child, and observing a bat costume worn by his father at a costume ball, but the primary impetus of his decision to adopt the bat persona has always been the incident of the bat crashing through the window of his study. It is as a result of this incident and this event that the Batsuit was developed and the legend of Batman was born. Stylistically, the Batsuit was designed to evoke fear in his opponents, but every aspect of the suit's design serves a critical function in Batman's career. One of the earliest modifications to the suit, was the nose-piece, which Bruce outfitted with special filters, specifically to counteract the effects of the Scarecrow's Fear Toxin. [3].The costume is made of kevlar fabric coated anti flames and titanium, the boots, gloves and spine to protect from falls and lessen the impact.

Not long after, Batman made additional alterations to his cape, incorporating a thin lattice of flexible rods that could be used to grant him glider-like capabilities. These accoutrements proved ideal for aerial combat, particularly against other flying adversaries such as the Man-Bat. [4]Note: Batman creator Bob Kane based the concept behind Batman's cape functionality on the "flying machine" schematics designed by Italian artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci.[5] The glider-cape concept was also used in the 2005 film Batman Begins. In the film, Wayne Enterprises developed technology which they referred to as memory cloth. In its natural state, the memory cloth remained flexible, but by sending a current into the fibre, it would realign the molecules, making them rigid. The shape of the memory cloth could be tailored to the specifications of the user. Former board member Lucius Fox provided Bruce Wayne with a sample of memory cloth which he later incorporated into his costume. When asked why he needed such material, Wayne told him that he wanted it for "base jumping".

Jean Paul Valley's Batsuit

When Jean-Paul Valley took over as Batman after Bruce Wayne was paralyzed by Bane, he started out wearing the standard Batsuit. His first modification came after his exposure to Scarecrow's Fear Toxin set off The System. The old leather gauntlets were replaced with more modern, armored weapons armed with razor sharp talons and a shuriken launcher. His first encounter with Bane lead to him modifying the entire suit entirely. The cape was replaced with a shorter one attached to an armored chestplate which also mounted a searchlight with the Bat-Shield on it. The costume was one piece and the legs mounted three razor sharp accouterments on each one. Finally, the old cowl was replaced with a full covered cowl. A near-disastrous encounter with the Corrosive Man lead to the first modification, restoring the Bat-Shield on the chest and replacing the cowl with a helmet. His final change, after his first encounter with Gunhawk and the death of the Abbatoir, transformed the costume entirely - a belt feed was added to the right gauntlet, with the shuriken launcher settings set to three, a flame thrower added to the left gauntlet and the cape replaced with segmented wings similar to his Azrael costume.